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The Maple Leafs’ lineage is one of the more compelling elements of the franchise’s history.

The idea that Teeder Kennedy begat George Armstrong, who gave way to Dave Keon before Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour is something that connects Leaf fans across generations. It’s what made the passing of the flag from Red Horner to Mats Sundin at the closing of Maple Leaf Gardens such a captivating and beautiful moment.

With that in mind we asked a handful of Leafs’ alumni playing in the Winter Classic alumni game on who their favourite Leafs were when they were kids.

Given the age of most of the players we asked, it should be no surprise the most popular responses were Toronto’s stars of the 1970s: Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming and Lanny McDonald. But they weren’t the only ones to get shoutouts.

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Darryl Sittler (1970-82)

“Dave Keon was the guy that I really admired for his skill and his penalty killing, his backhand shot, his work ethic. I also really liked Normie Ullman and the consistency in his game. Ronnie Ellis was great — classy guy. Even George Armstrong — I roomed with Chief in my first year. With those guys you got to feel the tradition, the passion and all that sort of stuff that those guys had gone through to win those cups. But even my own teammates — Borje, to me, he was one of the finest defencemen in the game. He didn’t win the Norris, but to me that didn’t matter. He was a very competitive guy, very good offensively, excellent defensively and tough. Not tough that he had to fight anybody, but blocking shots, taking the body, taking punishment and not being intimidated by the opposition. He was a target, but he played through all that. … I also liked those teams in the 90s with Dougie Gilmour and Wendel. A lot of character, a lot of depth, a good coach. Dougie was a good player. He could score goals, but he came to play in every situation. Never took any nights off, which I admired. He was the glue that made the thing all happen. Scored the timely goals. Through his intensity and tenaciousness it rubbed off on guys around him.”

Wendel Clark (1985-94, 1996-98, 2000)

“I loved Darryl (Sittler) and Borje (Salming). They’d be the guys we watched as kids. And then, getting traded for Mats and getting a chance to watch him play for 10 years, that was special, too.”

Tie Domi (1995-2006)

“That whole era of Salming, Sittler, McDonald and (Tiger) Williams was unbelievable. But being able to play in a game with Mike Walton, who was on a Stanley Cup team is pretty special for all of us. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Darcy Tucker (2000-08)

“First it’s Johnny Bower. The amount of respect that he gets from the fans and the fan base and how revered he is throughout the city of Toronto, that’s number one. Number two for me is Gilmour and Clark. I looked up to both guys, not only as a Leaf, but growing up as a kid, being that youthful adolescent going off to play major junior hockey, those were the guys I watched on Saturday nights. Wendel being a Western Canadian guy, a hard-nosed guy, and Doug being a smaller, skilled centreman, similar to what I was trying to be at that particular time in my career. Those were guys I looked up to.”

Gary Roberts (2000-04)

“For sure Lanny McDonald. I wore number 7 as a Leaf because of my relationship with Lanny. Me having an opportunity to watch him conduct himself on and off the ice as a young player (with the Calgary Flames) was a huge benefit to me throughout my career, and every opportunity I get to visit with Lanny or be part of something with Lanny it’s pretty special. I’m probably going to have to give up #7 in the game, though, eh?”

Shayne Corson (2000-03)

“It’s hard to pick one, to be honest with you. But growing up in Barrie, two of my favourite were Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald. Those are two obvious guys. I just met Bob Nevin the other night on a trip to Ottawa. I didn’t really know him before that. I didn’t see him play much, because I was so young, but I gained a lot of respect for that man on the road trip. Just a great person and a lot of fun. I’ll never forget that trip because of him. But there are so many great Leafs: Bill Derlago, Rick Vaive, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull. Mike Palmateer. I loved watching all those guys play.”

Curtis Joseph (1998-2002, 2008-09)

“Lanny McDonald, for sure. I was never a goalie fan, really. Lanny was just a great scorer, a great character. That’s an easy choice.”

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